Some Assembly Required
by pacphys
Summary: Splinter finds inbox bicycles at the junkyard Don't ask how they got there, they just are and brings them home to the 9 year old turtles. But as the title suggests there is some assembly required. Each brother has to put together his own bike before


Disclaimer: I don't own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They are the creations of Eastman and Laird, and are owned by uh... whoever owns them, Mirage now? Whoever it is it isn't me. This is only a story by a fan for fans and no profit was made from this story. Please don't sue.

A/N: Anyone who has read my other stuff has probably guessed that this is another 'quiet day in the life of...' story. I am working on some other genres (for lack of a better word), but keep running into roadblocks. I'll get one up one of these days. Little turtles get bicycles and construct them in their own ways. The guys are, oh, I don't know, maybe 8 or 9. Everyone who has read and reviewed my other work, THANK YOU!!! Alright enough from me ON TO THE STORY!!

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Splinter encountered a rare find on his trip to the junk yard. Someone had discarded several bicycles, still in their boxes. They had probably been trashed due to either missing pieces, or they had been in the store too long and the owner decided that no one was going to buy them. Each scenario seemed equally unlikely, but it didn't matter how they got there, all that mattered was that they were there. Splinter secured four of the boxes to take home to the young turtles he had come to think of as his sons. They rarely got treats such as this, and he wanted to give them this opportunity.

He noticed the words 'some assembly required' written on the side of one of the boxes and he snickered picturing his sons' reactions. Making each turtle construct his own bike would give them a chance to learn some skills that would prove invaluable in the years to come. The trick would be keeping little Donatello away from the other three bikes long enough for his brothers to figure them out. He loved fixing things, whether electronic or mechanical, as well as anything that needed to be put together. There were several wonderful Lego constructions around the lair that were in a constant state a flux.

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Upon finding out about the bicycles all four young turtles had been incredibly excited, three of them lost most of that excitement when Splinter explained that they still had to be put together. Unsurprisingly, the fourth got even more excited at the prospect.

"That's not fair," Raphael complained. "Donnie's already good at this stuff."

"And how do you think he got to be good at it, Raphael?" Splinter asked. "He practiced it, and it is a skill that all of you should have some experience with, not just Donatello." He then turned to the still excited little turtle. "And you, Donatello, must not do this for them. You can do what you want to your own, but until they have finished you are not to touch the other bicycles, do you understand?"

"Yes Sensei." The little turtle was not slowed down by the request. Splinter knew Donatello would obey, unless he was pressured by his brothers. Putting it mildly, the young one was not very good with peer pressure. He would have to keep an eye on them throughout the process.

Splinter handed each of them a bicycle and the four young turtles drug the large boxes into the main room to start their work.

Watching the four turtles sitting on the floor around their bicycle parts Splinter had to laugh. Raphael hadn't even opened the directions and was trying to force together parts that wouldn't fit. He knew it wouldn't be long before the little short-tempered turtle got angry. Leonardo had the directions laid out in front of him, but he was having trouble figuring them out. He made a frustrated noise.

"Leo," Donatello said as he looked over at what his brother was doing, "you've got those upside down!"

"Donatello, let him figure it out." Splinter scolded lightly.

"I didn't touch anything." Donnie insisted quietly as he turned back to his own bicycle. He had not only ignored the instruction pamphlet, he had tossed it away where it was easier to ignore. That hadn't surprised Splinter in the slightest, but the fact that all three of his brothers seemed to be further along in the construction of their bicycles was surprising. He had expected Donatello to be done long before his brothers. Bike parts were neatly laid out in front of the small turtle, who had made no move to actually put any together; he seemed to be thinking about something though. Eventually he got up, left the room and came back with an assortment of metal pieces and tools that Splinter couldn't imagine him possibly needing, but he let Donatello do what he wanted. The longer he spent on his own bicycle the less chance there was of the others trying to get him to do theirs.

Finally there was Michelangelo. He had all the parts out of the box, and had even fit a few together, but the ones that were together didn't look like they were together right.

"Look guys!" The little turtle called out. "It's a dragon!" His assortment of bike pieces did indeed resemble a dragon, much more so than a bicycle. After his brothers saw Mikey's art he pulled it apart and started making a new sculpture. The new one didn't look much like a bike either, but Mikey was having fun. And for now, his play was allowed to continue.

Raphael and Leonardo had taken cues from Donatello, and were likewise laying out their parts neatly. Michelangelo's parts however were all over, mostly as a result of his artwork, and some were beginning to spill over into Raphael's.

"Mikey, keep your stuff over there. You're messing up my system!"

"No I'm not. These ones are mine," he pointed to one side of the mass of parts, "and these ones are yours." He said as he pointed to the other side of the same stack.

"It's all one big pile! Move your stuff, or I'm gonna move it for you!" Raph growled. Splinter could see this situation turning very ugly very quickly. It was time for intervention.

"Raphael," He said warningly. Raphael put his head down.

"Sorry Master Splinter,"

"Tell you what." The wise rat stood and moved over between his two bickering sons. "Together we will figure out which parts go with which bicycle, and we'll move them farther apart from each other."

"Yes Sensei." The two little turtles muttered. Together the three split the parts back into two complete bike sets. Raphael glared at Mikey for having messed up the piles in the first place then got back to work trying to fit his pieces together. Mikey went back to playing with the pieces more than actually putting them together. A short while later Splinter allowed the boys a break from the bicycles. All four jumped up and ran off. Shortly the sounds of rough-housing could be heard from the other room and Splinter had to go break it up before someone got hurt. After the break the turtles returned to their construction projects.

An hour later Mikey was still playing with the pieces and was no closer to being finished. Leonardo, having long ago righted the instructions had a half completed bicycle in front of him, and Raphael wasn't far behind, though he was more copying what Leonardo did than figuring it out for himself. Even Donatello's project was beginning to resemble a bike, though it didn't look a whole lot like his brothers'.

"Michelangelo, why aren't you putting your bicycle together?" When the little turtle didn't respond he asked another question. "Don't you want a bicycle?"

This time Mikey nodded.

"Donnie can do this stuff." Mikey complained. "Why do I have to?"

"Well, he's busy with his own. And someday you might want something fixed that he doesn't want to fix. Do you think he should have to?"

"He never doesn't want to fix stuff."

"That may not always be the case. His interests may change, or you may want him to fix something that he doesn't like, for example that hand held game you constantly wake him up with late at night when you are supposed to be sleeping. If that breaks he may decide he is better off without it."

Mikey looked horrified, he hadn't known that Splinter knew about the game. "Ok, Sensei." He finally choked out. "I-- I don't know what to do. I can't do this." Mikey admitted softly so only Splinter could hear him.

"You can do this Michelangelo. Let's take a look at the instructions and see what they say, how does that sound?" A sudden inspiration struck him, "try thinking of it this way; it is just another kind of art." He watched as a smile grew on Mikey's face and the little turtle clapped his hands together.

Mikey pulled the instructions from the box and turned them around and around trying to figure out which way they went. Splinter had to laugh at him and his new-found enthusiasm for the project. Splinter got Michelangelo situated with the instructions what he thought was right-side up and Mikey started working from the beginning.

Splinter had barely solved Mikey's problem when another turtle started complaining, Leonardo this time.

"Sensei, Donnie's doing it wrong!"

"Am not!" Donatello insisted, before going back to what he was doing.

"Yes he is Master Splinter. He's not following the directions!"

"So?" Came the other turtle's quick reply, "Doesn't make it wrong, just different!"

Splinter could see where Leo was coming from. Yes, it was true that Donatello was not following the directions, on the other hand he hadn't been told to follow the directions, only to build a bicycle which did appear to be what he was doing, and Splinter saw no need to stifle the little one's creativity.

"I never said you had to follow the instructions. There is more than one way to build a bicycle Leonardo. You will find that in most situations there are many ways to achieve the same result. In the end Donatello will have a bicycle, as will you, Raphael and Michelangelo. Just because his is different doesn't make it wrong."

Leonardo seemed to accept Splinter's words, but still seemed a little upset at his brother. He wasn't used to being 'wrong' but he would move on. Or maybe the turtle who had established himself as the leader of the group was a little jealous, knowing exactly what his brother was capable of doing with the bicycle. Splinter knew he would have to allow the young turtles multiple breaks, and now seemed like a very good time for one. Also he was getting a headache.

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Somewhere along the line Raphael and Leonardo had started competing to see who could finish first. Those two were constantly competing, and overall they were evenly matched. They sat close together making it easy to see what the other was doing. Michelangelo was also facing them, but he was so far behind that he wasn't really a part of the competition. Donatello had his shell to his brothers. Splinter didn't remember them arranging themselves like that and he wondered when it had happened. However, he wasn't surprised by their placement. They often arranged themselves similarly: Raphael and Leonardo competing or fighting, Donatello off in his own little world, and Michelangelo either observing/trying to break up what Leonardo and Raphael were doing, or playing quietly with Donatello. Evidently Raphael and Leonardo were more interesting today.

"HA!" Raphael exclaimed a while later as he finished tightening the last screw on the handlebars. He stood the bike up and looked cockily at Leo, who raised his eye ridges in response giving Raphael a 'you're missing something' look; his eyes drifted to a spot on the floor behind his brother. When Raphael turned he realized that he hadn't put the seat on the bike yet. It was lying on the floor where Leo was looking. Raph spun to pick up the object and put it on as Leo finished tightening his last bolt, stood the bike up and walked it over to the door grinning smugly at his brother. Raphael growled in defeat as he finished his work and followed Leo.

Raphael got on his bicycle and noticed that it felt very different from the one Master Splinter had found a few years ago. He didn't care, but he was pretty sure Leo would.

"Come on Leo, I'll race ya!"

"But, we don't..."

"What is it Leo? Are ya chicken?" Raph interjected.

It was a dare, and who was Leo to refuse. "You're on!" He exclaimed and he mounted his bike.

"Be careful!" Splinter called after them as they took off. In the back of his mind he wondered if this had been such a good idea. When he heard a crash he decided he should be off watching the other two. Donatello and Michelangelo could manage here without him. Just a few words first. "I am going to watch your brothers. Michelangelo, you need to build your own bicycle, Donatello is not to touch it until you have completed it. Do you understand?" He looked pointedly at both turtles. Sometime, probably when Leonardo and Raphael finished and made such a commotion leaving, Donatello had moved to the other side of his bike and now faced Splinter and Michelangelo. That was one ninja skill Donatello had always excelled at. He tended to move too noisily if it was quiet, but he did know how to choose the moment to move that would allow him to go unnoticed.

It was another hour or so before Donatello decided that his bike was finished, for now anyway. He always reserved the right to change and improve things as he saw fit.

"You just can't make it like it is on the box can you." Mikey stated accusingly. As he looked jealously at Donnie's bike. It was now purple and boasted 15 gears and some major shocks that the little turtle had dug up from somewhere and altered enough to work properly.

"Where's the fun in that?" Donatello responded with a smile as he stood his handiwork up against a wall to dry and left the room. Mikey was alone with his own, almost-but-not-quite complete, bicycle. He glared at the handyturtle behind his back, sighed and turned back to his own bicycle. A smile spread across his features as he realized that if he finished what Splinter wanted him to do he could then turn the bike over to Donnie for a repeat performance. Splinter had said that Donnie couldn't touch the bike until it was finished; he said nothing about after it had been put together. If he wanted a bike like Donnie's all he had to do was be very nice to his favorite brother, and he could do that! There was one thing though, Mikey wanted to do the painting. Donnie had really messed up in that department; purple, what had he been thinking? Now orange, that was a color for a bicycle!

A/N: ok, maybe not one of my best, but it's as done as it is going to get.


End file.
